Career and Professional Development News

An e-newsletter for University of Minnesota staff - November 2009

Book of the Month

Creating a Life Worth Living

Favorite book of Andrea (Andy) Gilats, director of LearningLife, College of Continuing Education

Promoted as "a practical course in career design for artists, innovators, and others aspiring to a creative life," Creating a Life Worth Living trusts that we are all creative, and that our life task is putting that creativity to use in every facet of our lives, including, of course, our work. As the book's back cover proclaims, "every life should be a work of art."

It is impossible to be human without being creative. Creativity is a defining characteristic of our species, and is related to urges like hunger and thirst. It impels us to strive, make and build, have ideas, be resourceful, make discoveries, solve problems, and craft our futures. Creativity might be repressed, it may go to sleep, but it doesn't die until we do.

But creativity is like a muscle. If we don't use it, it will atrophy, diminishing a central element of our humanity. Are you actively using your creativity? If you think there's room for growth, there are steps you can take to recognize the unique nature of your creativity so that you can build it into your life and work.

And that's where Creating a Life Worth Living comes in. In a chapter perfectly titled "A Kaleidoscope of Creativity," author Carol Lloyd describes ten artistic profiles under two broad categories of creativity – collaborative and individual. Here they are:

Collaborative Artistic Profiles
Teacher. Teachers enjoy giving people information, ability, and knowledge. Preferring informal, intimate groups over large, formal gatherings, they are less interested in possessing power than they are in transmitting it.

Realizer. Realizers are the people everyone else depends on to get things done. They relish the process of problem solving with lots of elements, people, and materials. Limelight and fanfare may result, but ultimately, realizers often prefer to stay behind the scenes.

Interpreter. Interpreters play with stuff that is already there – bringing it to life in new and fresh ways. Their creativity is built upon understanding how things can be made better.

Healer. Healers access creativity through the part of them that wants to console, nurture, and cure. Morally inclined and very intuitive, their creativity springs from their sensitivity to emotional states.

Leader. Leaders have a talent for moving people toward a common goal. They can perceive a dream in vivid detail. Their words make a distant blur seem real and immediate. The leader's ingenuity comes from the ability to work with people.

Individual Artistic Profiles
Maker. For most makers, their greatest joy springs from creating things with their hands. They value craftsmanship and material creation over abstract conceptualization. They want to be close to the means of production. They are not satisfied with daydreaming; they doodle.

Thinker. For most thinkers, thinking is its own reward. They consistently prefer introverted activities over interaction. They value the idea as much, if not more than, the communication or realization of that idea. Thinkers enjoy measuring, interpreting, analyzing, and theorizing.

Generator. Generators manufacture ideas and schemes. They have enormous enthusiasm and a surplus of initiative. They have more ideas in a week than they can carry out in a whole lifetime.

Inventor. Inventors create new forms, objects, and ideas. Their talent lies in dreaming up new thingamajigs and then trying to create them. Like generators, they are brainstormers, but the inventor's product is not the idea, it's the project itself. Their creative process is not complete until they have tested their theory

Mystic. Mystics tend to be less product-oriented than many other artistic types. The ideas and objects that spring from their labors are side effects rather than the culmination of their creative process. First and foremost, they live creative lives – moment by moment.

These descriptions are all quoted directly from the book. As I was typing them, I found myself identifying with almost all of them in one way or another, so I think it's important to pay attention to our gut reactions – a sure indicator of strong resonance – as we consider our affinity with each profile.

We tend to think of creativity as highly individualized (the mad genius!), so I'm grateful to Lloyd for recognizing that some of us realize our creativity through collaboration, rather than by ourselves. It is vitally important to nourish the types of creativity that most suit us. Lloyd also makes the point that the creativity we all possess can and should permeate our lives, no matter what our life's work. This, too, is critically important, since not all of us are "artists" by traditional definition.

Because Creating a Life Worth Living grew out of a career planning workshop, the book is full of excellent thought questions and interesting exercises, including how to begin applying your artistic profiles to your daily pursuits, how to manage your time each day so that your creativity isn't squelched, and how to create and achieve goals.

I'm not sure what I expected when I bought this unique book last year on Amazon – somehow the idea of creating a life worth living rang my chimes. But my $10.17 investment has returned to me many times over. Carol Lloyd's Creating a Life Worth Living is a book I keep turning to, and one I love to share. I hope you'll explore it.

Explore Your Creativity

The Mind Tools site provides resources for creative thinking in many different areas such as leadership, time management, and decision making. The section on "Practical Creativity" explains techniques that anyone can use to generate imaginative problem solving ideas.
http://www.mindtools.com/

Another source for people who want to express creativity in their work and lives is “The Artist’s Way”, Julie Cameron’s work on uncovering barriers to creativity and the ways in which to work through one’s barriers to fulfillment.
http://www.theartistsway.com/

Online Career Workshops

Employee Career Services has developed a series of career workshops to guide you through key steps in the job search process. (UM Connect)

Professional Development Fair

Videos from the 2009 Professional Development Fair along with a list of options for training at the University are posted at www.umn.edu/ohr/orgeff/fair/index.html. The 2010 Professional Development Fair will be held March 9. We'll keep you posted as details become available.

UTTC Offers Free Tech Classes for U Staff

The Office of Information Technology is offering University Technology Training Center (UTTC) courses at no charge to University faculty, staff, and students. UTTC courses are designed to help build technology-based skills within the context of real-world scenarious for the University environment. For a complete listing of available courses, visit http://uttc.umn.edu/training/index.jsp.

Upcoming Workshops

Career Foundations

This course provides the first step toward discovering what makes a job or career meaningful and satisfying. You will complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Step II prior to the course and will complete values, interests, and skills analyses in the course. There is a $35 fee for this course. Read more

Part 1: January 7, 2010, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., 210 Donhowe; Part 2: January 14, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., 210 Donhowe
To register: https://onestop2.umn.edu/training/courseDetail.jsp?course=OE0030

What's My Type?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the most commonly used tools to help better understand personality type and work style. This course will supply you with the information needed to understand your personality and those of others. This workshop will explore the issues around personality, as well as provide tips for ways to flex your personality and work better with others. You will complete the MBTI Step II prior to the course. There is a $34.00 fee for this course.Read more

January 26, 2010, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., 210 Donhowe
To register: https://onestop2.umn.edu/training/courseDetail.jsp?course=OE0188

What's Inside

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